SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER: RETIREMENT INCENTIVE TAKEN BY 23 CAPE EDUCATORS

Norman Brooks has been teaching art students at L.J. Schultz since the building opened as a seventh-grade attendance center 31 years ago, but this year will be his last in the classroom.

Brooks and his wife, Peggy, are just two of the 23 teachers, principals and staff members in the Cape Girardeau school district who accepted a retirement incentive from the Cape Girardeau Board of Education. In all, 27 district employees are retiring later this month.

"When you do something for 31 years there are a lot of things you'll miss," Brooks said of his job. But the district's incentive package prompted him to accept retirement this year.

"Without it, I would have taught one more year," he said. Peggy Brooks, his wife, teaches junior high science classes.

The costs and benefits of the retirement incentive will be discussed during a school board meeting today. The board meets at 6 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School.

"It really is something that works for everybody," said Dr. Steve DelVecchio, the district's business manager. "It's a way to cut costs and still get something out of it."

Employees who were at least 60 years old and have made at least 15 years of payments to the Missouri schools retirement fund were eligible for the five-year plan. Depending on the number of years experience of the staff members who accepted, they could receive payments equal to 50 percent but not less than 20 percent of their 1995-96 base salary.

About 80 percent of the current school budget is devoted to paying salaries, so offering an incentive saves the district money, DelVecchio said, adding that finances are tight.

The district over-budgeted by about $550,000 this year, and revenues are not expected to increase.

"We looked for a way to economize that could help everybody," he said. "There are two ways to do it -- increase revenues or reduce expenses."

The district chose reducing expenses. The retirement incentive is expected to save $160,000 during its first year.

But the program is still so new that no one is exactly sure of the actual benefits. The district expects to spend about $65,000 on the first incentive payments, but actual costs for the year should be determined by June when new employees are hired, DelVecchio said.

"We don't know the benefits for long-range," said Dr. Bob Fox, school board president. The board has not yet decided how often it will offer a retirement incentive to its employees.

A similar program was offered in the 1991-92 school year but was coupled with other budget cuts totaling $1.2 million. That incentive plan ends this year and has saved the district $287,757 over a five-year period.

Critics of incentive programs say it leaves school districts with an inexperienced staff. "Some of those teachers don't have the same background we do," Brooks said.

But Dixie Cook, who teaches gifted students at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School, says it was about time for her to leave. "I just always thought that when you reached a certain age, you should leave," she said. "I thought that when you reached 60, you should get out."

Cook has been teaching for 33 years and spent 27 years at the Central Junior High School.

But some students and parents are still trying to convince Cook to stay, she said. Cook considered retiring two years ago but waited for the incentive package this year.

"And I was still needed here," she said. Cook oversees Challenge, the gifted program at the school.

For three hours each week, the students enrolled in the program are "pulled out" of their regular classroom to work on projects that couldn't be done in a "regular" setting.

"It gives them an opportunity to explore the possibilities," she said. "They are responsible for their own learning."

During their years in the classroom, both Brooks and Cook have seen students succeed and fail.

"It's neat to see them blossom," Brooks said of his students. "You try to make everyone feel successful."

But failure can also be part of a success. "If they fail or a project doesn't turn out it's still a learning process," Cook said.